


Beauty and the Blade

by thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey



Series: The Princess and the Blade [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-25 00:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14367111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey/pseuds/thegalrahobbitofplantetgalilfrey
Summary: Allura didn't want a bodyguard. She didn't need one, in her opinion. But she was nonetheless saddled with the young Blade member who has apparently no regard for his own health. Great.





	Beauty and the Blade

Ambassador Kullivan from the Blade of Marmora knelt before King Alfor and his daughter, Allura. “Greetings. I am glad for this chance to work out differences between our clans. I am sorry that it has taken this long

Alfor inclined his head graciously. “I look forward to our new alliance. I understand, however, that your particular group takes issue with our ally, Zarkon?”

Kullivan’s face darkened, although not noticeably. “We have had our disagreements. But we are here on his command; the Blades are the finest warriors of the Galra, and he has told me that there was a threat upon you and your wife.”

Alfor nodded. “There was.”

“Zarkon has sent us as a guard, to safeguard you against this threat. Our three finest warriors, and myself, will be here to protect you and your wife.”

“Zarkon was kind to consider my wife and I’s safety, but what of my daughter? The threat did not extend to her, but…”

Kullivan inclined his head with a slight smile. “We have brought one of our younger members. He is headstrong and stubborn, but he is fiercely loyal and will serve your daughter well.”

Allura kept her dismay to herself. She didn’t need some Galra bodyguard! She could handle herself against a couple of assassins, and she didn’t particularly trust Kullivan, or anyone associated with him.

Kullivan nodded to the ship, and four hooded figures dressed in the garb of the warrior clan descended. Allura immediately picked out the one meant to be her guard. He was shorter, _much_ shorter, than the others, and his face was pale, like her father’s royal advisor’s, not purple like the rest of the Galra.

Kullivan noticed her confusion and smiled. “Keith is not a full-blooded Galran. He is half of a race called ‘humans.’”

She nodded, and the strange hybrid came to stand next to her. He didn’t look very happy about it. He bowed, but Allura saw resentment in his eyes at bowing to a monarch not his own.

Alfor smiled at his daughter. “Why don’t you go to the gardens, or to the library? Kullivan and I will finish up here.”

She nodded and inclined her head to Kullivan before striding away with all of the bearing of a princess. Her new guard trailed behind her, and she grinned wickedly to herself. This wouldn’t be the first guard she’d had to lose.

\-------------

Allura slid out of a tree with a thump, pulling a twig out of her hair. Keith had been harder to lose than she’d thought he would be.

A hooded figure landed in a catlike position next to her, and she grabbed for its arm. The assassins were here already?!

He dodged her fluidly. “Are you done trying to lose me, Princess?”

She relaxed. It was just her guard. No need to worry. Then he pulled a knife on her, and she jumped backwards. Why-

Another person dropped on top of him, arms wrapped around his neck in a stranglehold. “Did- you- think- that- she’d- really- lost- me,” he grunted, dropping his adversary. His face mask was down, and Allura saw, with relief, that this was indeed Keith. The Blade dropped his unconscious foe and threw a weighted net over him. “Come on,” he sighed, “We should probably report this.”

Allura finally found her voice. “Shouldn’t- shouldn’t someone make sure that he doesn’t run away?”

Keith eyed his unconscious enemy. “Oh, yeah, someone probably should. Let’s just ask your other guard- oh, that’s right. We don’t have one. And I’m not going to let them get another chance at you.”

She drew back. “Well, there was no reason for sarcasm. I sincerely doubt that I’ll encounter another assassin on the way.”

She encountered three just on the way to the Castle door, and Keith dropped each and every one, binding them all with glowing nets before calmly reporting them to the guards.

“You should probably get somewhere safer now.”

“Like where,” Allura countered, “The grounds are supposedly just as safe as the Castle!”

Keith shrugged. “I don’t know. Your room?”

“You are _not_ coming into my room.”

He glared balefully at her, and she nearly gasped at his blatant disrespect. “Listen, Princess. I’ve been tasked by Zarkon, Kullivan and your father to keep you safe, and that means that I go everywhere you go. And if that means into your room, then I go into your room. No exceptions.”

“You are _not_ coming in the bathroom with me.”

“One exception,” he amended.

\----------------

Allura glanced at her guard. “Aren’t you going to eat breakfast?”

“I’ll eat later.”

“How, when you’re watching me all day?” She waved a biscuit in front of his face. “Eat some food.”

He reluctantly took the biscuit and bit into it. She grinned in satisfaction. So he wasn’t made of stone after all. She nudged her own biscuit. She’d never really liked them anyway; she’d rather eat fruit. She delicately picked her way through a bowl of fruit, savoring the sweet juneberries.

Without warning, Keith turned green, and doubled over. Allura grabbed his shoulders. “What’s wrong with you? Are you sick? Are you having an allergic reaction? What’s wrong with you?!”

“Poison,” he choked, shuddering, “Fast acting. Biscuits.”

Allura panicked and pressed the button for the med bay, unsure of what to do. Would they get here in time? Wait. The poison had been eaten. Perhaps…

She jammed her fingers into Keith’s stomach, and he gagged, vomiting. She barely moved out of the way in time to avoid it. He retched again, holding onto her bedpost for support, but his stomach had nothing else to give.

The doctor slammed the door open, Alfor pushing past him and marching to Allura. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

Allura shook like a leaf in her father’s arms. “I- I’m fine. Fine. It’s Keith, he- someone tried to poison me. I’m okay.”

The doctor was examining Keith, shining a light into his eyes that made the half-breed hiss and weakly bat the doctor’s hand.

“You need to come to the medical bay.”

“No,” he protested, “’m fine.”

“You’re not. We need to give you an antidote to that poison and make sure that it’s all out of your system.”

“No,” he muttered, “Have to- have to- have to protect. Can’t leave.”

One of Alfor’s Blade guards nodded reassuringly. “It’s fine, cub. We’ll watch over her. You need to recover.”

“Can’t,” he shuddered, “Can’t distract- from- from your jobs. Have to protect.” He swayed on his feet. “Why- spinning-”

The doctor caught him as he passed out. “Alright. You’re coming with me.” He nodded to Allura. “You did the right thing, Princess. Good thinking.”

She nodded. “Is he going to be alright?”

“Likely, thanks to you. He’s a good guard. You’re lucky that he was here. Those biscuits could’ve been the end of you.”

Allura nodded again, and the doctor put Keith on a stretcher, pushing the hovering cot down the hallway. The Blade member smiled at her. “He’ll be fine. I’ve never known him to stay in bed long. Just wait, Princess.”

\-------------

            “You’re recovered already?”

Keith nodded, although his face was pale. “I’m fine, thank you, Princess.”

“You know, that is the fifth time in the last two days that you’ve saved my life.”

“It’s my job.”

“But isn’t it odd that _I’m_ the one with all of the attempts on my life, after the threats were directed towards my father?”

“Not very, Your Highness. These are likely smaller assassins who thought that your security would be lessened to place greater protection on your families; they are probably not of the same group.”

“It’s unnerving to think that so many people want to end my life.”

“It’s unnerving to think that I have to stop all of them.”

She whirled around to face him. “Did you just make a joke?”

His face remained flint. “I don’t know what you are referring to, Your Highness.”

“You made a joke!”

“I assure you, Princess, I did not.”

Allura kept on her path, dissatisfied, but she thought she might have seen the corners of Keith’s mouth twitch upwards when he thought she wasn’t looking.

\----------------

“Keith, are you doing alright?”

He nodded, trying to conceal a yawn. “I’m f-f-i-i-ne. Thank you, though.”

“Are you sure? You look tired.”

He nodded. “Just fine. Thank you for your concern, Princess.”

“Did you not sleep well last night?”

“Something like that, yes.”

“ _Something_ like that?” He nodded distractedly, and Allura eyed him for a minute. Hold on. He was her only guard, at least her only Blade guard. “Keith?”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“When do you sleep?”

He started to avoid her eyes. “Uh. At times.”

“ _What_ times?”

“Blades don’t need sleep. We’re trained to go for months without rest.”

“That’s not healthy! You need sleep!”

“I’m fine, Princess. Really, I-” he swayed on his feet. “I’m fine.”

“Keith, you need to rest! You’re dead on your feet! It’s been three weeks since you got here, and you’re saying that you haven’t slept at all?! That’s self-abuse!”

She shoved him back into her room, despite his protests, and pushed him into bed.

“This is _your_ bed,” he protested.

“You need it more,” she said firmly, “And don’t worry about your orders,” she ordered as he opened his mouth. “I’ll stay right here and if anything happens, I’ll scream.”

“But-”

She touched the side of his neck, and there was a flash of blue beneath her fingers. His eyelids drooped shut, and his breathing slowed. She sighed and sat down in a chair, running fingers through her hair. Honestly, just _watching_ him was exhausting. He snored softly and she smiled. Stupid Blade.

\-------------------

Allura stretched and yawned. She’d gotten used to Keith’s presence, although it had unnerved her to sleep while he was in the room at first. She eyed her breakfast suspiciously. It had been two weeks since the poisoning incident, but she was still wary of what came out of the kitchen.

“You want anything?”

Keith wrinkled his nose at the plate. “I’ll pass, thank you, Princess.”

“Are you sure?”

“Quite sure.”

“Don’t want a biscuit?” His face turned green, and she winced. “Too soon?”

“With all due respect, I don’t think that I’ll ever eat a biscuit again.”

“That’s fair. Guess what?”

He waited patiently until she nudged him. “What, Princess?”

“It’s the juneberry festival!”

“The- the juneberry festival?”

She nodded, her eyes starry. “It’s _wonderful_! You have to come with me, Keith!”

The corners of his lips twitched into what was almost a smile. “If you want to go, I don’t see that I have a choice.”

She rolled her eyes. “No, stupid, as a _friend_ , not my _guard_!”

He froze. “F-Friend?”

She put a hand to her mouth. “Oh- I- I’m sorry- I thought- I thought-”

“It- it’s fine, Princess. I- I just- I didn’t-” This was the first time that Allura had ever heard Keith stutter, aside from when he was choking on poison. “I haven’t ever-”

She linked her arm through his, beaming at him. “Me neither. Not really. We can just figure it out as we go, okay? And call me Allura, not Princess.”

He hesitantly smiled back. “O-okay… Allura.”

\----------------

Keith tugged at the collar of his shirt apprehensively. “What _is_ this?”

Allura rolled her eyes. “It’s only a shirt, for goodness sake. Stop tugging at it, people are staring at us.”

“In all fairness, I think that they’re staring at _you_.”

Allura wrinkled her nose. “Probably. Come on, win me a prize!”

\-------------

Allura yawned as she and Keith climbed back into the pod that they’d taken down to the festival. Keith set the small portable juneberry garden that he’d won for her in her lap. “Did you have fun?”

She rubbed her eyes. “Did _you_?”

He considered that for a moment. “Yeah. I think I did.”

The transport started to move with a lurch, and she leaned on him, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. She could trust him to keep her safe.

The transport stopped with a lurch, and Allura suddenly realized that they were the only ones on the transport. Keith cursed.

“Keith, what-”

“Stay here.”

“But-”

“Stay.”

He got up, cautiously making his way to the front of the transport, all signs of his friendly nature gone, back in the role of bodyguard. He cursed violently and came tearing back, tackling to Allura to the ground as glowing blue arrows shot towards her. The juneberry garden shattered.

“Driver’s dead,” he said tersely, “Hold on.” He poked his head over the top of the seat, and then ducked back down as arrows shot over his head. “Snipers.”

“I can drive the transport.”

He shook his head. “Not while they’re out there. It’s too dangerous.”

“So protect me. Isn’t that your job?”

“I- Allura, no. Stay down. I’ll drive the transport.”

“The driver _died_! And you will too!”

“It’s my job to protect you, no matter the cost to myself!”

“It’s pointless if I can drive! All you need is to protect me while I do!”

Keith eyed the arrows and then the door. “Alright. Alright. When I say run, you _sprint_.”

She nodded.

“Run!”

They dove for the door, Keith slicing arrows out of the air with a- where had he gotten a _sword_?! Allura shook her head and revved the engine of the transport, shoving hard on the throttle. Next to her, Keith was still slicing arrows out of the air with amazing speed and dexterity. After a while, the arrows stopped, and Keith’s sword shrank back into what she realized was his knife, and he leaned against the wall with a wince.

Allura then noticed the arrows stuck in his shoulder and his hip. “You’re hurt!”

“I’m fine,” he assured her, “Just keep driving.”

“But-”

“They’re not serious wounds, and we need to get you to safety. Let’s go.”

She nearly cried with relief when they reached the station, and Allura saw one of their doctors waiting there nervously. When she saw him, her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the ground. All the adrenaline that had been fueling her disappeared, and she felt tears bubbling up in her eyes.

The doctor pushed the door open, and a confusing tangle of emotion flooded across his face. Fear, worry, anger. He knelt by Allura’s side. “Are you alright, Princess?”

She nodded, gulping back a sob. “I’m- I’m just shaken,” she choked, “Keith- he-”

The doctor nodded, making his way to the barely-conscious guard, who stared up at him in confusion. “How- how-”

The doctor stiffened, and then placed two fingers on Keith’s neck. “Sleep now.”

Keith gave Allura a look, like he was trying to tell her something, but then his eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped forward.

The doctor nodded in satisfaction. “He’ll be alright. Princess, we must get you to safety. An attempt on your parent’s lives was made, and it appears that one was made on you as well.”

Allura put one hand to her mouth. “Are they alright?”

The doctor nodded. “Thanks to the Blade. Thank the ancients that you’re alright as well. These Galra really know what they’re doing.”

\------------------

Allura frowned at the ceiling as she lay in bed. Something was wrong. She was missing something, something obvious.

Allura heard the doctor nearby and frowned. He’d insisted that she stay in the hospital for a night, just in case, but he didn’t to be near her all of the time. She glanced at Keith, who was sleeping heavily in a bed nearby. What had he wanted to tell her?

How. His last words before the doctor had knocked him out. How what? How had he gotten there? How- how had he known? Allura hadn’t told anyone but her father where she was going. He shouldn’t have known; Alfor would’ve sent Coran for her, not some doctor!

 _“Those biscuits could’ve been the end of you.”_ She hadn’t told him that the biscuits were poisoned. How had he known? Unless he’d been the one to poison them. And now- now she was alone with him, her guard unconscious.

He hadn’t been relieved when he’d found her on the train. Scared and angry, yes. But not relieved. He was the assassin. He was the one trying to kill them.

She heard him approach and feigned sleep until she heard the _snick_ of a knife sliding out of its sheath. She leapt up, headbutting the doctor in the face and shouting for help as her fist careened into his jaw. He roared in anger and swiped at her with a knife, which she realized was Keith’s.

She sprang backwards, trying to put some distance between herself and the crazed doctor, but she tripped over a stool and went crashing to the ground.

“Time to die, Princess.”

An arm wrapped around the doctor’s throat, dragging him back, and Allura saw Keith’s eyes glittering with controlled rage as he pulled hard, making the doctor sputter and choke.

The doctor backed up, slamming his back into the wall in an attempt to knock Keith off.

Allura shouted in horror and warning as the doctor slammed into the wall again, and the glass shattered. He’d been running into the widow.

Blade and assassin went tumbling out into the open air. Allura screamed, running down the stairs, calling for help as she shot onto the lawn. She saw two figures, lying a few yards from each other.

“Keith!”

Allura dropped down next to her bodyguard, turning him over, his head in her lap. His face was white with pain, and he cradled a broken arm to his chest. There was a good knock on his head as well, and Allura touched it gently

“You okay,” he choked.

Allura resisted the urge to smack him. “I’m _fine_! Worry about yourself for once in your quizneking life!”

“Not in my job description. Is the doctor…”

Allura gently laid Keith’s head down and then nudged the doctor with one foot. He glared balefully at her. “I’m alive.”

“Why?”

He smiled a pained grimace at her. He was dying; Allura could hear his breath rattling in his chest. “You don’t have any idea. You have no idea what’s coming. But we do. We know, and we’ll do anything to prevent the destruction of Altea.”

“What?!”

“Beware of the sky’s gift, and beware those who call you allies.”

“I called _you_ ally,” she reminded him hostilely.

He grinned, and pushed himself up. “Yes. Yes, you did.” She backed away as the half-dead Altean lunged towards her, attempting to stab her with a scalpel. She lunged backwards, and the doctor abruptly stopped, blinking at Keith’s knife in his chest. He looked at it, and then at her, before falling down.

Behind Allura, Keith dropped back to the ground, panting. “Ow.”

Allura knelt next to him as the nurses rushed out, some checking on the doctor and the others crowding around Keith. Her father swept her up in his arms.

“Thank the ancients that you’re safe!”

“No, not the ancients.”

He nodded, turning his attention to Keith, now loaded onto a stretcher. “Thank you. Thank you for saving my daughter.”

“Uh-huh,” he said listlessly, “Yes, Sir. Ow!”

Kullivan seemingly materialized next to King Alfor, surveying the scene analytically. He rapped the stretcher next to Keith’s head. “Once they let you go, I want a full written report.”

“Yessir.”

Kullivan gave a rare smile. “You’ve done well, Keith. I think that it’s about time you became a full member of the Blade.”

Keith’s eyes widened, and Allura almost laughed at the dopey happiness on his face. “Really? Like, an actual, full member of the Blade?!” He tried to sit up, but then turned paler and laid back down. “Ow. Okay. Allura, he actually said that, right? I didn’t hit my head too hard?”

Allura laughed. “No. He said that.”

The nurses shoved the stretcher away, scolding Kullivan for exciting Keith and insisting that Allura come along with them. Allura smiled. The worst was behind them.

\---------------

“Allura, do you know a fancy, refined way to say ‘I threw my knife into the chest of that quizneking traitor’?”

Allura tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Try… The Altean doctor-traitor was impaled through the chest cavity by my thrown blade.”

Keith grinned, typing with one hand on his pad. “Thanks. I _hate_ writing reports.”

“Duly noted. Can I come for the ceremony?”

Keith shook his head. “Sorry. Very mysterious. No outsiders. I just hope that I don’t have to go through the Trials of Marmora again.”

“The what?”

“Nothing.”

They sat in companionable silence for a moment. Then Allura spoke the question that she’d been chewing on for weeks. “Are you going to come back?”

Keith shrugged. “I don’t know. I’d say ‘job done, we unearthed the assassin,’ but the doctor said ‘we,’ and Kullivan thinks that this might be a group, or a cult.” His mouth twitched into a grin. “I think it’s safe to say that you’ll be seeing more of me.”

“Good. I- I brought this. For you, when you’re on Dybazal.” She handed him a little pot with a juneberry flower in it. “They smell really nice, and their seeds are easy to collect if you want to plant more. I thought- maybe-”

“I had fun.”

“What?”

“At the juneberry festival. I had fun. It was nice, being able to just do normal teenager things.”

“Like downing that juneberry hot-sauce on a dare?”

He grinned ruefully. “I regret nothing.” He held out a hand. “Keep in touch?”

She shook her fist good-naturedly. “You haven’t seen the last of me!”

He laughed softly, smiling at her. “I sure hope not.”


End file.
